Acrobatic racing toy



Feb. 26, 1929. 1 1,703,117

v 1.. MARX ACROBATIC RACING TOY Filed March 19, 1928 Patented Feb. 26, 1929.

LOUIS MARX, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ACROBATIG RACING TOY.

Application filed March 19, 1928. Serial No. 262,728.

This invention relates to a toy, and relates more particularly to a novel acrobatic racing toy.

The principal object of my present invention is directed to the provision of a mechanically operated toy designed to produce a simulated race between a plurality of toy figures such as toy vehicles, and in which the toy figures are made to perform some stunt or acrobatic action such as leaping or vaulting in the course of the simulated race.

Other principal objects of'the present invention include the provision of an acrobatic or stunt racer toy in which the figure toys or toy vehicles, conjointly released'at the start of the race, are" individually acted upon by means for vaultingly projecting the toy vehicles into space and onto ,a support for further racing movement; the further provision of an acrobatic racing toy of this character constructed of a minimum of workable parts and designed so that the same may be set for operation without difficulty by a child; and the still further provisionof a racing toy of this character and component parts thereof embodying a simple structure capable of being manufactured and sold at a low cost.

To the accomplislnnent of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the elements and their relation one to the other as more particularly described hereinafter; reference being had to the accompanying draw ings which show the preferred embodiment of my invention, and in which: i

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the racing toy of the invention illustrating the same in operation,

Fi 2 is a Jlan View thereof on an. enta 1 1 larged scale snowing the parts in race starting position, and

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view thereof.

Referring now more in detail to the drawings, the acrobatic racing toy of the invention comprises in its broader aspects a plurality of track sections a and a arranged at an inclination, a plurality of figure toys I) and b movable in said track sections a, w and means generally designated as 0 and 0 arranged at a lower stage of each of the figure toys from the track sections for further racing movement on a support such as the ground g, the race starting at an upper orelevated stage of the track sections (Land a and terminating, after the vaulting or leaping action produced, on such other supportas the ground g.

The track sections a and w'- are similar in every respect and are joined together to form a single unit by means of a pair of transversely arranged plates 10 and 11, the plate 11 being provided with terminal upstanding portions 12 and 13 which form pivotal or hinge bearings for a yoke or U- shaped member 14 provided with an operating crank arm 15, the said member being designed for holding the toy figures b and b in starting position, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the said member being movable from the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings to that shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings by manual engagement of the crank arm 15 to conjoint-1y release the figure toys for movement down the, inclined track sections a and a. The member 14 is preferably designed to align the toy vehicles in starting position and to release thesame simultaneously, and preferably said holding or aligning means is arranged to engage the fronts of the figuretoys as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the release of the vehicles being effected by moving the member to the rear of the Vehicles. I v

The individual track sections a and a being otherwise similarly designed, a description of the track section a will suffice, and

the similar parts of the track section a will be designated by similar andprimed reference characters. The track section such as a is provided with an inclined portion 16 anda substantially horizontal portion 17 made from a blank of sheet material. and shaped to provide the side channels 18, 18 defining the tracks. For supporting the tracksection in an inclined position, a part of the blank of sheet material is struck out and turned down to form a supporting stand 19, which supporting stand may be adjusted about its hinge line 20-for varying the angle of inclination of the track section. At its top the track section a is provided with an upturned stop element 21 and at its bottom the track section is provided with the standards 22 for supporting a part of the projecting or vault-ing mechanism 0, as will be set forth more in detail hereinafter, all of these parts being formed from the track section blank of sheet material.

The vaulting mechanisms 0 and 0, each individual to a track section, are similar in construction, and a description of the mechanism 0 will therefore suflice for both and the similar parts of the vaulting mechanism 0 will be indicated by similar and primed reference characters. The vaulting mechanism 0 comprises a projecting member 23 which may be placed under tension and which is actuated by a spring 24:, and a trip member 25 slidably movable on the track section a between a position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings for holding the projecting member 23 in tensioned condition and a position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings for releasing the tensioned projecting member for movement, the said trip member being actuated into its releasing position by impact of the figure toy Z) moving down the incline of the track section.

The parts of the vaulting mechanism 0 are designed and constructed so as to be capable of being set with ease by a child and operated with a great degree of certainty .by the impacting movement of the toy vehicle to produce a forceful upward throw of the vehicle and so as to be capable of being manufactured by simple operations and at a low cost. To these ends the projecting member 23 is made in the form of a yoke-shaped member hingedly supported at elevated points 26, 26 of the standards 22, 22 and therefore at points substantially above the plane of the track sec tion, the said projecting member being provided with a toy engaging part 27 arranged to lie in the plane of the track section a, clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the track section being preferably grooved as at 28 for seating said part 27. The tensioning spring 24 is arranged on the outside of one of the standards, said spring having a coil portion surrounding a pivot pin portion of the projecting member and having an anchoring point on the standard, as at 29, and a point of application on an arm of the ro'ectinn' member as at 30. The trip member 25 is bent to provide a horizontal slide portion 25 slidable in slots 31, 31 cut in the track section and a vertical vehicle engaging portion 25 which is engaged medially by the front of the vehicle a and which is moved against a backstop 32 struck up from the track section blank. By mounting the projecting member 23 in this manner, a forceful and upward throw of the vehicle is produced for effecting a pronounced leaping or vault ing action, the projecting member 23 being thus given a quick elevational motion over a substantial are, as for example, 180. By means of this construction the trip member is substantially always released by the impact of the vehicle in spite of the .ten sioned condition of the throwing member 23, this resulting in substantial certainty of operation. The parts, as will be noted, embody a simple design capable of being manufactured at a' low cost. Preferably the vehicle 5, also made out of sheet material, has its sides undercut as at 33 for engagement by the part 27 of the projecting member 23.

The manner of making and using the acrobatic or stunt racer of my invention and the features of advantage and playing attraction to the child will in the main be fully apparent from the above detailed description thereof. The track sections a and a are mounted as a unit on a support such as the ground g, and the vaulting or projecting mechanisms 0 and 0 are moved from the positions shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings to their tensioned and locked positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, and the vehicles I) and b are placed in their starting positions held by the aligning and holding means 14, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 0f the drawings. The toy is now ready for a race and acrobatic action. A flipping of the crank arm 15 from the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings to that shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings releases the vehicles 7) and Z) for conjoint and preferably simultaneous starting motion, and these figures upon reaching the lower stages of the track sections a and a are individually acted upon by the vaulting mechanisn'is 0 and 0 which are tripped by the movement of the vehicles and which engage the vehicles at the itindercut portions 33 and 33 thereof and project the same forcibly or violently in. an upward direction, causing the vehicles to leap or vault into space. After vaulting, the vehicles Z) and 1) land on the ground 9 and con- 7 tinue the racing movement until the energy imparted thereto by the gravitational motion over the inclined tracks and by the projecting action of the mechanism 0 and c is spent.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in its preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims. i

I claim:

1. An aerobatic racing toy comprising a plurality of inclined track sections, a plu- .lOO

rality of figure toys one movable in each of said track sections, means at a lower stage of each of said track sections releasable by impact of the figure toy moving down the I incline of such track section for projecting the toy from the track section, and means at an upper stage of both track sections for aligning the figure toys in starting position, such aligning means being movable for con jointly releasing the figure toys for racing movement down the track sections.

2. An acrobatic racing toy comprising a plurality of inclined track sections, a plurality of toy vehicles one movable in each of said track sections, means at a lower stage of each of said track sections individual to a track section releasable by impact of the toy vehicle moving down the incline of such track section for vaulting the vehicle from the track section into space, and means at an upper stage of both tracksections for aligning the toy vehicles in starting position, such aligning means being movable for conjoint-1y releasing the Vehicles for racing movement down the track sections.

3. An acrobatic racing toy comprising a plurality of inclined track sections, a plurality of figure toys one movable in each of said track sections, means at a lower stage of each of said track sections individual to such track section and releasable by impact of the figure toy moving down the incline of such track section for vaultingly projecting the toy from the track section, an upper stage for both track sections for positioning the figure toys in starting position, said figure toys being conjointly releasable for racing movement down the track sections.

4. An acrobatic racing toy comprising a plurality of inclined track sections, a plurality of figure toys one movable in each of said track sections, means at alower stage of each of said track sections for vaultingly projecting the figure toy from the track section for further movement, each of said means being individual to a track section and comprising a spring actuated projecting member engageable with the figure toy, and a trip member for holding the projecting member in energized condition releasable by impact of a figure toy moving down the incline of the track section for tripping the projecting member, and means at an upper stage of both track sections for holding the figure toys in race starting position, said holding means comprising a single member rnigageable with the fronts of said figure toys and movable to a position in the rear thereof for conjointly releasing the figure toys for a racing movement down the track section,

5. An acrobatic racing toy comprising a plurality of inclined track sections, a plurality of figure toys one movable in each of said track sections, means at a lower stage of each of said track sections for projecting the figure toy from the track section for further movement, each of said means being individual to a track section and comprising a spring actuated projecting member engageable with the figure toy, and a trip member for holding the projecting member in energized condition releasable by impact of a figure toy moving down the incline of the track section for tripping the projecting member, and means at an upper stage of both track sections for aligning the figure toys is race starting position, said aligning means comprising a crankarmed U shaped member hinged to said track sections engageable with the fronts of said figure toys and movable to a position in the rear thereof for simultaneously releasing the figure toys for a racing movement down the track sec tions.

6. A toy of the character described, comprising an elongated track section made of sheet material adapted to be held in an inclined position, means at an upper stage of the track section struck out-from the sheet material thereof and turned down to form a stand for supporting the track section in inclined position, said means being adjustable to vary the angle of inclination of the track section, and means at a lower stage of said track section releasable by impact of a figure toy movable on the track section for projecting said figure toy into space.

7. A toy of the character described, comprising an elongated track section made of a blank of sheet material adapted to be held in an inclined position, means at an upper stage of the track section struck out from the sheet material thereof and turned down to form a stand for supporting the track section in inclined position, said means beig adjustable to vary the angle ofinclination of the track section, and mechanism at a lower stage of said track section releasable by impact of a figgjure toy movable on the track section for projecting said figure toy into space, said mechanism including a spring tensioned projecting member hingedly supported substantially above the plane of the track section and having a toy engaging part arranged to lie in the plane of the track section, and journalling supporting standards for said member integral with the track section and made from the same blank of sheet material thereof.

8. A toy of the character described, comprising a track section adapted to be held in an inclined position, means at an upper stage of the track section for supporting the track section in inclined position, and mechanism at a lower stage of said track section releasable by impact of a figure toy movable on the track sectlon for projecting said figure toy into space, said mechanism dition and adapted to be tripped by said figure toy.

Signed at New York city, in the county 10 of New York and State of New York, this 16th day of March, A. D. 1928.

LOUIS MARX. 

